Improvement in revivifying bone-black



BELLows; l Bone-Black Furnace.

UNITED STATES PATENT O EEICE.

WILLIAM BELLOWS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND CHARLES W. SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

HVIPROVEMENT IN REVIVIFYING BONE-BLACK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 26,457, dated `December 13, 1859.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BELLOWS, of the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction'of Apparatus for Revivifying Bone- Black; and I do hereby declare the following to be a Afull and exact description of the same, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, v and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improved apparatus, I will proceed to describe the same. p

The object of my improved bone-black revivifier is to reburn bone-black in the cheapest, most expeditious, and thorough manner, and to consume the gases generated in the process.

The nature of my improvements consist in certain new mechanical details of construction in the furnace and fixtures for reburning the bone-black.

In the process of refining sugar or freeing it from the impurities which it contains it is necessary to use charred bone, through which the crude sugar (in the forni of sirup) is made to pass. While the sir-up is passing through the bone-black (which is placed in vessels for that purpose) the bone-black retains the impurities of the sugar-Sirup which, in anow purified state, is discharged therefrom; but after the operation just specied the boneblack itself must in turn be purified in order to be used again for the same purpose. This is termed revivifyin g the bone-black and is required to be done after each purification of the sugar-Sirup. To effect this reviviflcation of the boneblack (which is accomplished mainly by the agency of heat) in the most advantageous way is the sole purpose of my invention.

The nature of my apparatus consists in a new arrangement of the heating-retorts required, together with certain important details of furnace construction, all of which may be clearly seen by reference to the accompanying drawing.

Figure lis a plan view of my improved apparatus and is represented in perspective. A

portion, however, of' the brick -work or in-i closing-wall is withdrawn in order to show the several parts of my improvement and to l facilitate their description.

a a a are the retorts, into which the boneblack is placed to be reburned or revivied.`

ings taper flanges ee e are cast, fitting loosely. 1 in the top of each retort. I The cover-plates, do not rest upon the retorts, but are sustained?` 1" by the side pieces, ff, built in the furnacewall, and thus allowance of spacesuicient is made for the expansion of the retorts-when y heated. The flanges c c c, together with the cover-plates d d d and side pieces, ff, form a chamber intowhichpass the offensive gases from the several retorts; The tapering` flanges e e e, fitting loosely in the top of the retorts, allows the gases to escape from the retorts during an operation of reburning the `bone-1 black, which gases thus escape 'out into` the chamber just mentioned, and from thence they find egress through the openings g1g,

after which they mix with the smoke from the furnaces, and are finally carried olf through the smoke-stack. `The flanges c c,

being in a red heat,consume a portion cf x these gases before they can escape.

h 7L h are the caps over the retorts, and are i made to fit snugly on the` cover-plates.

c t' is the bottom .plat-e, on which suitable sockets, 7c k 7c, are cast for the reception Iof the bottoms of all" the retorts. y l Z is a damper for regulating the draft of the furnace. A damper isalso placed in the opposite side of the furnace-wall for the same purpose.

on m are the two furnaces. `If double the" y p 19 is a railway for carrying buckets to an( tions in each retort.

fro underneath the retorts, said buckets receiving the reviviiied bone-black.

The bottoms of all the retorts are made flaring, which eases the delivery of the boneblack when ready to be discharged.

Fire-clay is placed on the bottom plate, i t', and packed in around the retorts up to about one-third their height. This serves to throw the heat from the furnaces upon the central and upper parts of the outside of all the retorts, where the most heat is required. The fire-clay thus placed performs anotherimportant service in gradually cooling the boneblack after being reburned and before it is taken out of the bottoms of the retorts. There is but a limited quantity of bone-black taken out of any one retort at a time, as but a small portion of it is sufli'ciently cool to admit of its exposure to the air. Bone-black at a re'd heat is reduced to ashes if brought in contact with the air, and also, if exposed to intense heat, is burned into lime. A gradual heating and slow cooling process is arrivedat by the apparatus herein described. The height of the fire-clay is indicated by the two parallel rows ofv dotted lines intersecting the retorts.

In order to discharge the bone-black after it is sufficiently purified and cooled after reburning, two sliding plates are provid ed,wi th openings corresponding tothe bottoms of the retorts. These sliding plates are worked backward and forward by means of the lever n on 'one side and lever oon theother side,

thus covering or leaving vacant the bottoms of all the retorts on either side simultaneously, as may be desired.

The result of using the flaring bottom of the retort which I employin my revivifying apparatus is as follows: Vhile discharging the purified bone-black from the bottoms of the retorts that portion which nds egress first are the particles in' the center, which is in .consequence of the flaring shape 'before mentioned. The bone-black above and in the central part of each retort immediately follows this central movement. Then the lumps from the sides of the retorts naturally follow to lill the vacancy thus made a second time, and in this way the particles of bone-'black are constantly changing their relative posi- Thus every part of the bone-black is equally exposed to the heat while reburning and equally cooled previous to their final discharge from the retorts.

The operation of my revivifying apparatus is as follows: Fire is applied to the fuelY in the furnaces before any bone-black is placed in the retorts. When the retorts ,are at red heat, they are filled with the bone-black which needs reburning. vThis is only partially reburned, after which it is taken out entirely `and again placed in the retorts, when it is thoroughly revivilied. As the bone-black is taken out of the retorts for reusing, more impure bone-black is added at the top of the retorts, and this is repeated without cessation as long as it is required for use by the sugarrenner. In this revivilier the smoke and gas are carried out into the smoke-stack by means of two suitable chimneys made in the inclosing-wall, which chimneys lead downward and then off, so as to connect with the stack. This chimney is indicated by dotted lines on the brick-work, as shown in the drawing.

The above-described bone-black revivier differs in the essential features, as well as in its operation, from any plan heretofore de- .vised or used. Its advantages are as follows:

First, it is Amore expeditious than others in use; second, burns more equal and perfect;l third, will last with care five times as long as the common furnaces now used; fourth, the parts are made detachable, so that replacements can be made conveniently; iifth,it carries off and consumes its own gases; sixth, throws the llames and heat where they are most serviceable and economizes fuel; seventh, the lower portions of retorts are a cooling agent; eighth, the flaring bottoms of retorts aid to equally burn and equally cool the boneblack by the changing of the particles from one location to another in each retort, ninth, the llanges c c are made a part of the heating-surface; tenth, the chamber between the flanges and .cover-plates a non-conductor of heat; eleventh, involves no waste of boneblack from overheating` or sudden cooling; twelfth, the different parts are made so as to allow for expansion by heat, thus no warping or displacement occurs.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isd

1. An-improved apparatus for revivifying bone-black, arranged and constructed as described.

in-described apparatus for the purpose specified.

3. The flanges `c c, in combination with the retorts ot d, for the purpose of allowing for eX- pansion and contraction and replacing of retorts, as well as protecting internal heatingsurface, substantially as described.

4. The chamber between flanges c c and lower plates, d d, when for the purpose of preventing undue radiation of heat and for the purpose of passing off the offensive gases arising from retorts when said chamber is combined with flanges c c and cover-plates d d, for the purpose described.

In testimony of my invention I have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of June, 1859.

IVM. BELLOWS.

Witnesses:

. J. O. JOYCE,

C. C. CHAMPLIN. 

